The Durango Telegraph, April 13, 2023

Tapped out on winter

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T H E

O R I G I N A L

I N D I E

W E E K L Y

L I N E

O N

D U R A N G O

&

B E Y O N D

Family bonding

The great melt-out

Blurring the lines

DIY projects to cement the father-son relationship p4

Vallecito Reservoir prepares for massive inflows p8

Alex Graf on how bluegrass, jazz not so different p10

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2 n April 13, 2023

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lineup

4

4 La Vida Local

Family bonding Cementing a father-son relationship with a DIY backyard project

by Zach Hively

4 Thumbin’ It

Ear to the ground: “I almost left my house today wearing two different shoes.”

– When you know it might be time to lay off the Flonase

thepole

RegularOccurrences

5 Western Water Girl

Get your excuses ready 6-7 Soap Box

8

8 Writers on the Range

Spill proof

9 Colorado Wonders

Vallecito Reservoir managers prepare for massive inflows

10 Between the Beats

by David Marston / Writers on the Range

11 Stoned & Starvng

10

12-13 Stuff to Do

Blurring the lines

13 Ask Rachel

Turns out jazz and bluegrass aren’t as far apart as they seem

by Stephen Sellers

14 Free Will Astrology 15 Classifieds

11

15 Haiku Movie Review On the cover Yes, it’s true: winter wrestling season is over. Good job, everyone – go hang your wrestling clothes to dry and bathe in the spring sun./ Illustration by Jonathan Bailey

Making the rounds Sitting down with a local baker to find out what makes the best bagel

boilerplate

by Micah Susman

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telegraph

Now that winter has loosened its death grip on Southwest Colorado (we think… for now), that can mean only one thing: spring cleanup time.

Believe it or not, historians are at odds on the origins of how spring cleaning came to be.

Some say it traces back to the Persian New Year, which falls on the first day of spring, when people practice “shaneh tekani,” translated to “shaking the house” – where everything in the house is cleaned. Other researchers believe it’s attributed to the ancient Jewish practice of cleansing the home in anticipation of Passover (thanks internet!).

Either way, spring cleaning has now become a ritual in which dads across America prepare for months their best excuses to get out of cleaning. If you need a few, feel free to borrow these: • Need to spend time with the kids (wink, wink).

• I have to work late (i.e. go to the bar and argue with friends over sports).

• I’ll be able to better focus and clean once we get this whole Trump/hush money thing sorted out.

If all else fails, and you get sucked into cleaning, feel free to use this life hack via The Onion: “For fresh, disinfected air, pour Lysol into the humidifier.” Exactly – make the house feel clean, without any of the actual cleaning.

Thankfully, the City of Durango is here to help out with its annual Spring Cleanup, which is a great (and free) way to get rid of unwanted household items. Pickups run until May 5, but for a full lineup of when spring cleanup comes to your neighborhood, it’s best to visit the City of Durango’s website at DurangoGov.org/CleanUp. Accepted materials include furniture, mattresses, large appliances (except fridges and air conditioning units), scrap metal, drywall, carpeting, tiles, open and dried paint cans, fencing and lumber, small tree trimmings and branches, and bagged/boxed loose brush and leaves. The city asks you separate items into piles.

Items not accepted include tree stumps, concrete, bricks, electronics, batteries, liquid paint, tires and hazardous waste. Also, the cleanup is meant for taxpayers within Durango city limits, so dumping is not allowed (and can result in a fine up to $1,000).

See you out there (but hopefully not).

April 13, 2023 n 3

opinion

LaVidaLocal Pergola-la land As a man with an advanced degree in English, I must say that few literary delights compare to building something tangible with my own two hands.

Barring that, because in fairness I use English far more often than I use corded drills, very little compares to getting my dad to build things for me.

With me! I mean WITH me. Father and son, drawing up plans, watching instructional YouTube videos, buying carloads of hardware from every home improvement store in the county then returning everything because the hardware we bought was the wrong size hardware – this is as American a pairing as playing catch in the yard. It’s even more American if one of them is playing catch by himself because the other one has a job and responsibilities and doesn’t have TIME to do this right now, Dad. But – I wanted a pergola. It would make me feel more retired, even though I’m not and (being an English major) probably never will be. So unless I can build a pergola out of a comparative analysis of magical realism in the collected works of Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez, for which I would have to read a LOT more of both authors, I needed to suck it up and dedicate some of those endless working hours to helping my actually retired dad get excited about starting a new temp job, only for free. Because I sure can’t research all this lumber by myself.

And boy, is there a lot to consider with lumber. Such as: why is a 2-by-4 actually a 1.5by-3.5, yet when they say it’s 10 feet long it’s actually 10 feet long? Did the definition of an inch shift since the invention of lumber, while feet stayed the same? Or is this, as I suspect, a dark conspiracy backed by Big Wood to nullify all my lumbering calculations?

Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself. You see, before we even started with the lumber, we had to set the concrete.

The cardboard forms for concrete pillars, as you may know, are round; bags of concrete, on the other hand, are not. This set up Pops and me for doing some math. It being a word problem, I felt qualified to help: “If a pillar is 8 inches in diameter,” Pops began, “and we need to bury them 30 inches deep…”

“Are these real inches or lumber inches?” I asked helpfully. “And, how many

inches equal a pound of concrete?”

Like a couple of smart fellas, we budgeted the entire first day of Project Pergola for buying concrete. This disappointed me somewhat; I had visions of pizza and margaritas under the pergola before sundown. But, Pops knows best that some things, like his son, take longer to reach fruition than you bargained for.

Day Two, Pops called in to his one-day-a-week volunteer gig, and I had to find a decent bookmark for the novel I was reading, so that we could dedicate ourselves to mixing concrete. You don’t want to half-ass mixing concrete – not if you ever want to use your wheelbarrow as a wheelbarrow again. But you might want to half-ass mixing concrete if you have any desire to move your body without hurting ever again.

It turns out – despite suggestive adjectives to the contrary all over those bags of concrete – that concrete requires a great deal of force to mix. Strangely enough, this might have been the moment that Pops chose to disclose to me, in a moment of male bonding, that he had scheduled surgery for his hernia.

“I can handle the hose,” Pops said. “And I can poke the air bubbles out of the concrete after it’s poured. But you get to mix.”

So I did. I flexed every muscle in my body mixing concrete. And when those gave out, I flexed the muscles that aren’t actually muscles, like spotting an “its” when an “it’s” is needed, just in case they might help. They didn’t. But I mixed the snot out of that concrete, until Pops said, “Let’s call that good enough; we don’t want it to set before we pour it.”

He handled smoothing that concrete and setting some brackets with a master’s touch, and I made sure his dialogue included semicolons correctly. And that was the end of Day Two. I’d like to say Day Three saw a pergola. Instead, it saw Pops drive home for some much-deserved R&R and a long session of researching bolt lengths. It saw me gazing proudly, for a great many hours, at the six concrete stumps sticking out of my back yard. Someday, I will have a pergola to enjoy. But even that cannot compare to the pride I feel today. It’s like I am standing taller. Which I am, if you measure in lumber inches.

– Zach Hively

SignoftheDownfall:

Thumbin’It A new (and hopefully more affordable) health-care option coming to Southwest Colorado – Denver Health Medical Plan’s “Elevate” – which aims to replace Bright Healthcare, which stopped offering coverage in 2023.

NPR announcing it will no longer post to Twitter after being labeled “state-affiliated media.” You mean you can just … quit social media?

Inflation easing to 5% in March, its lowest level in almost two years, (yet prices still remain too high for comfort for most Americans).

4 n April 13, 2023

Rampant reports of flooding and road closures as Southwest Colorado begins the epic melt out this spring after an incredible year of snow.

Reports that Sriracha is experiencing an “unprecedented inventory shortage” as a result of drought in Mexico. Can we get a freaking break??

A Texas judge suspending approval of an abortion pill, creating legal chaos and halting sales. In unrelated news, a rapidly expanding sinkhole is swallowing up Texas and we’re questioning if we should even do anything about that.

telegraph

Bare Witness Brandy Williams, of Filmore, Calif., was booked into county jail late last year for “assaulting” two Jehovah’s Witnesses who came calling. Apparently, Brandy saw them coming down the drive, so she got completely naked, and waited by the door.

When the proselytizers knocked, Brandy flung open the door, shouted “succumb to my devil vagina magic,” and then laughed maniacally while chasing the two missionaries back to their bicycles. Arresting deputy MacEwen went on record to say that Brandy “went too far,” but only because he failed to remember that not all heroes wear capes.

WesternWaterGirl

Go with the flows

Reducing consumption key to solving West’s water crisis

by Teal Lehto

Dia de la Tierra April Events April 17 Film: Kiss the GroundRegenerating Hope for Climate. UU Church 419 San Juan Dr. | 6-8pm

T

hey say there are only two things guaranteed in life: death and taxes. However, I would like to add a third item to the shortlist of inevitabilities: that if you mention the West’s water crisis to anyone who is not already elbows deep in the matter, they suggest we engineer our way into more water resources to rectify the issue. More often than not, these onlookers are recommending one of two ill-fated ideas: desalinating seawater or constructing a pipeline from the east.

This obsession with engineering around any environmental constraints that would hinder our ability to develop the American West dates back to the not-so-humble origins of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny.

Embedded deep within the very narrative and character of the American West is the idea that man is separate and above the natural world. This creed is rooted in scripture that states, “God blessed them and said to them … fill the Earth and subdue it. Rule over … every living creature” (Genesis 1:28).

This obviously plays a role in the conversation surrounding water resource issues in the Colorado River Basin.

Indeed, one could argue this perception of dominance over landscape played an integral role in developing the Colorado River Basin from the very beginning. John Wesley Powell’s seminal report published in 1878 clearly illuminated the fact that only 2% of the land out West was arable. That is unless the vitality of the many mighty rivers in the region could be subjugated and redirected to irrigate the free 160-acre plots resulting from the Homestead Act of 1868.

This suggestion of transferring water from a bountiful watershed to a less fortunate one to sustain agricultural development led to the creation of an entirely new legal doctrine for water allocation. This “Doctrine of Prior Appropriation” was then permanently enshrined in the Colorado State Constitution. The practice also created the need for the Bureau of Reclamation in the first place to “reclaim” these arid lands for development by creating the infrastructure for transbasin diversions. Then the adoption of the Colorado River Compact cemented this system of allocation with federal recognition, leading to Congress providing funds to develop the reservoir system we recognize today.

So, it comes as no surprise that many Americans responded to the images of Lake Powell and Lake Mead nearing catastrophically low water levels last summer by grasping for ways to augment our water supply. Given how deeply influential the belief system of dominance over the environment is in our region, it makes sense that we would focus on how we can engineer our way out of this crisis rather than adapt to the natural hydrologic provisions of the river.

The problem with this whole line of thinking is that it’s completely out of touch with reality, and it has been since the beginning. At the turn of the 20th century, we genuinely believed that “rain follows the plow,” wrongly assuming that the increase of greenery resulting from farming the region would permanently increase precipitation. This fallacy was further compounded by a series of coincidentally wet years preceding the signing of the Compact, resulting in more water

Earth Day

April 20 Electronics Recycling La Plata Fairgrounds 8:00-5:30pm April 20 Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass FLC | 6-7:30pm

being allocated than what is consistently available within the river.

That inherent deficit directly led to the current debacle at hand, and we’ve known this was coming for at least a few decades. But now that the proverbial chickens finally came home to roost, we have to immediately address this deficit in order to stabilize the system long term and avoid catastrophe, with extra emphasis on the word “immediately.”

Meanwhile, both of the commonly proposed sources for augmenting supply would require developing massive infrastructure projects, which would incur significant financial burdens for American taxpayers. Worse yet, these projects could never be completed in the expedited timeframe required to respond to this crisis. That’s not to mention the legal and environmental ramifications of such a project, nor the continued maintenance costs for their upkeep. Furthermore, even if we did acquire more water to satisfy our thirst for continued westward expansion, the demand will only continue trending upward as the population does the same.

This is why it should be clear that the only viable way to ensure our sustained inhabitance on this landscape is to learn to live within the hydrological bounds of the river system. Try as we might, it’s not possible to continue augmenting water resources forever; we’ll have to decouple population growth from water consumption eventually. We must instill an ethic of water conservation in every community and every industry in the Southwest. That all starts with acknowledging and accepting the environmental reality of the region: it’s dry as hell out here, and it’s about time we start living like it.

Teal Lehto is an FLC graduate and Durango resident best known for her TikTok platform (@WesternWaterGirl) dedicated to raising awareness for water resource issues in the Southwest. ■

telegraph

April 22 - Earth Day! Parade: Dress up as your favorite animal, tree, fungi and join the "procession of the species" parade. Meet at the Train Station on Main, walk or bike to Buckley Park 10:10am Celebration at Buckley Music, food, trash-totreasure art and maker space, circus, booths, fun for kids, and workshops.

Buckley Park | 11am

Presented By

earthdaydurango.com April 13, 2023 n 5

D-Tooned/by Rob Pudim

SoapBox Vying for workers

Values or rationalizing?

I read your article about staffing shortages in Durango restaurants (Oct. 6, 2022) and thought I’d offer some insight. Durango’s restaurants per capita is insane. We have a restaurant for every 99 people here, whereas a place like San Francisco has one per almost 200 people, for perspective. This makes the pool of candidates to choose from within working age slim.

Durango has been growing and expanding other industries that pull potential employees from otherwise alright restaurant jobs. One great example of that is dispensaries. I worked restaurants here before going into the dispensary industry in pursuit of higher wages. I’ve seen at least 10 to 20 restaurant workers take on budtending in the last four years, because to make $25-35 an hour is necessary in Durango, not $13-19 an hour.

If restaurants don’t want to babysit teens, they need to stop paying teens $13-19/hour. I understand the unfortunate reality that restaurant margins can’t handle it without doubling down or increasing prices, but it’s 2023 – time to figure it out. I make $35 an hour and own a home in Durango fully paid, and I’m still looking at building a life in the Midwest where things aren’t impossibly, outrageously expensive. I will come back as part of the problem with many rentals and not contributing to the local workforce, only because Durango demands this from its residents to survive.

– Tyler Spoo, Durango

Hearing our Congresswoman Lauren Boebert assert that somehow teen pregnancy is a rural value is akin to arguing that a lack of education and adulthood are somehow rural values. I don’t think that the majority of rural voters would agree that their values are based on out-of-wedlock pregnancies (like Boebert’s family legacy), and not graduating from high school – as some 50% of such teen pregnancies result in.

To infer that under 18-year-old teens have the fiscal resources, life experience and foresight to choose to be parents is rationalizing, at best, from the perspective of those that have made the same mistake (vs. conscious choice). That is why it’s widely accepted that high schools students be educated in topic like sex education, something that Boebert wants to restrict, in order to give them accountability for their sexual decisions. Likewise, a responsible parent would value talking with their children on what teen pregnancy means in terms of life decisions.

Topics like receiving adequate social, emotional, medical, fiscal and academic support when such things are more difficult to achieve when a teen.

Boebert’s moralizing about rural values is an easy way to help further stoke the culture wars and fails to address the deeper issues involved in teen pregnancy.

If the congresswoman actually wanted to help rural teens, she would support education, including sex education, welfare programs that support pregnant or teen mothers (like food, housing, fiscal help), and maybe

support legislation like TNAF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). Which, by the way, Boebert tries to prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

– Tim Thomas, Durango

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6 n April 13, 2023

telegraph

Taking public out of the process

Dear fellow citizens, and former and current members of the Parks & Recreation, Natural Lands, Multimodal and Infrastructure advisory boards: your voice is about to be silenced. Please turn out April 18!

On April 4, after a day-time study session introducing the “re-envisioned Community Engagement Strategy,” Mayor Noseworthy and councilors Youssef, Baxter and Buell were ready to vote on a resolution they’d prepared for the evening council meeting. It would establish their newly proposed Financial Advisory Board (FAB) and dissolve the above-referenced boards and commissions, with zero citizen input, fundamentally flipping on its head decades of how Durango has conducted its public engagement.

Each of the 2005, 2015 and 2019 sales tax initiatives were passed on the knowledge that an advisory board would be in place to advise on how funds are spent.

Voters at the time never envisioned that these boards populated over the years by hundreds of citizens would one day be dissolved and replaced with a sevenmember FAB. Although Council established its FAB on 4/4, it did not dissolve the current boards only because their attorney advised them that without a seated FAB, there would be no advisory board in place to oversee tax funds.

The irony is rich. This new strategy, flawed for so many reasons, at a minimum deserves to be vetted by the public – that is, of course, the public with whom it proposes to improve engagement.

On 3/23, 16 former mayors voiced opposition to

this proposal in a letter to the editor (“See Who’s Driving,” www.durangotelegraph.com/opinion/soapbox/whos-driving/. Among their first questions: 1) Who is driving the bus? Zero citizens whom the City Council represents have asked for a new process.

2) What’s the rush? Why is this council not allowing any formal process for citizen engagement to understand this new plan, provide input and perhaps even improve it?

Although these councilors contend they started this process in 2019, as a former member of the Multimodal Advisory Board (2019-21), I do not recall any consultation by staff about the need to improve public access and engagement.

3) What is the motivation when no citizens are actively calling for an improved process? Staff time, efficiencies and cost-savings are what we’re told. Moving from 23 to 15 boards will save $320,000 in staff salaries per year allowing staff to redirect its time to “other needed activities within the city which would improve the City’s overall effectiveness in providing services to the community.”

Except, conveniently, the above “analysis” leaves out the innumerable contributions volunteer boards and commissions make to the city. Think if the time of attorneys, scientists, planners and other professionals who have volunteered time over the years was included in this calculation. And who is to say $320,000 (the equivalent of two-plus full-time employees) is too much?

Perhaps Durango should increase the staff that supports boards and commissions. Again, an excellent discussion if one was allowed to take place.

And this new strategy? It’s involved the heads of all of the city’s departments for months now, most of whom likely make over $100k a year. Again, conveniently, the fiscal analysis leaves out the money spent and what is planned with the current strategy.

Working groups, digital outreach, community forums over a year’s time? Assign those activities staff hours and money for an untested, staff-envisioned process that, again, purports to serve a broader segment of the public, with no public input. This proposal is entirely staff driven.

And if you are really trying to save money, is $320,000 of a $150 million budget (.21%) really the place to look to achieve those efficiencies?

There is merit to wanting to improve community engagement and include a broader segment of our community in it. The burn is that these councilors plan to cram an untested plan down our throats without advisory boards and commissions or other public input. Once again, these councilors are not listening to the people whom they were elected to represent.

To see the plan from the 4/4 meeting, visit tinyurl.com/communityengagementapril4. To stand up to the continued erosion of the public trust and democracy in Durango, please turn out to the City Council meeting on Tues., April 18, at 5:30 p.m.

A FAB may be helpful, but the dissolution of these advisory boards will further reduce access citizens have to their local government. This is not the way.

We need dialogue. Please show up and stand up on April 18.

– Ellen Stein, Multimodal Advisory Board Member, 2019-21

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8-week group class series with Michele Lawrence Tuesdays, 9-10:15 a.m. starting April 18 Smiley Building, Room 20A Limited to 8 participants Scholarships available Register online at: innerpeaceyogatherapy.com/locations/durango

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telegraph

April 13, 2023 n 7

WritersontheRange

The great melt-out Vallecito Reservoir gets ready for massive inflows

by Dave Marston

R

eservoir manager Ken Beck said wryly that he has lots of water coming his way, “and I need a hole to put it in.”

Beck is the superintendent of Pine River Irrigation District and Vallecito Reservoir, which catches water from the 13,000- and 14,000-foot peaks of the Weminuche Wilderness. It’s a place so wild and beautiful that Teddy Roosevelt protected it in 1905 by creating the 1.8million-acre San Juan National Forest.

The name Vallecito means “little valley” in Spanish, and the reservoir stores water for the town of Bayfield as well as providing supplemental irrigation for 65,000 acres of tribal and non-tribal land to the south.

This winter, Beck has been faced with a near-record snowpack, now expected to turn into some 320,000 acre-feet of water. The 82-year-old reservoir, however, can only hold 125,000 acre-feet. What’s more, snow was still falling in early April.

In late March, Beck saw moisture going up dramatically. Any reservoir manager has to deal with uncertainty, but Beck’s job, which he has held for seven years, has an Achilles heel.

“I was told by the Bureau (of Reclamation) to manage my reservoir, so I don’t use my spillway,” he said. “We’re restricted because of the needed repairs.”

Spillways are critical elements of any dam. When incoming water overwhelms the intakes for hydroelectric and outlet works, excess water flows into the riverbed below. Beck has few options without the safety valve of a dependable spillway, yet he may be forced to use it.

Beck is well aware that dams can fail. Six major dams have failed in Colorado since 1950, with the biggest disaster occurring in Larimer County in 1982. When the Lawn Lake Dam failed, three people died, and property damage amounted to $31 million.

Beck said Vallecito’s management challenges came to the fore after “the big wakeup call of 2017 when Lake Oroville fell apart in California.” California’s tallest dam, Oroville, resembles Vallecito in being earthen built. It nearly failed when its spillways began eroding during high runoff.

Soon after, Vallecito’s dam was closely inspected, revealing leaks and erosion in its spillway. The Bureau of Reclamation, which built the dam, patched up the spillway, but also put the dam “under review.”

By the end of March, Beck had released 15 times more water daily than during the previous month. By late April, Beck estimated, the formerly half-empty Vallecito Reservoir would be just 20% full – better prepared for what could be an epic snowmelt.

In the arid West, this makes Beck a reservoir apostate.

Spring is when reservoir managers follow a creed that’s been honed during periodic drought: Store as much

8 n April 13, 2023

After the past few years brought drought conditions to Southwest Colorado, Vallecito Reservoir is not only expected to fill, but exceed normal inflows after a strong winter season./ Photo by Missy Votel water as possible as early as possible.

For Beck, that’s not wise. “But don’t mistake my being meek as weak,” he said. “I’ve got an Abe Lincoln style: Wrap good people around you and encourage them to say things you might not want to hear.”

Beck has surrounded himself with a team of straight shooters, though he relies most on Susan Behery, a Bureau of Reclamation hydrologic engineer, based in Durango. With Behery’s advice, Beck decided that Vallecito’s water levels needed to be dramatically drawn down.

Evidence for doing that was obvious this winter as roofs sagged, driveways became mini-canyons, and snow at the nearby Purgatory Resort outside Durango reached 20 feet high in places. SNOTEL sites above Vallecito Reservoir measured 170% and 180% of normal.

With so much big water ready to head their way, a reservoir manager might have decided to operate quietly and hope for the best. Instead, Behery said, Beck has been transparent with the public and collaborative. She

telegraph

admires Beck for it.

“I’m an engineer, and nobody gets into engineering because they’re super good with people,” she said. “I don’t do the fluffy stuff.”

Beck makes a lot of information available. He holds open meetings and emails a weekly newsletter to anyone interested. “A lot of people are asking why we’re turning out more water,” he said, “but I just met with farmers that say I haven’t brought (the reservoir) down enough.”

What does Beck predict will happen to Vallecito Reservoir as snowmelt barrels down?

“If spring rains come, it will add to the pucker factor,” he said. “But the spillway will hold.”

Meanwhile, he’s a little bit on edge.

Dave Marston is the publisher of Writers on the Range, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He lives in Durango. For more from WOTR, go to: writersontherange.org ■

#1

ColoradoWonders

What’s in a name?

Berkshire Hathaway agent in Durango*

The story behind the Never Summers

(*First agent to work there)

by Eden Lane/Colorado Public Radio

C

olorado has many mountain ranges, and they were all named somehow. In north-central Colorado, in the western part of Rocky Mountain National Park, the Never Summer Mountains rise to nearly 13,000 feet. So how did this range get its name?

Kerry Pettis, who has lived in Colorado for more than 50 years, wrote into CPR’s Colorado Wonders about several of Colorado’s intriguing place names.

“I wonder about Cripple Creek, which is west of Colorado Springs. And I wonder who broke their leg … or whatever happened. And I wonder about the Cache La Poudre River out of Fort Collins: Who was hiding gunpowder, and why?”

But one place, in particular, prompted her to submit a question to CPR. Pettis said one of her favorite place names in Colorado is the “Never Summer” Mountains. She wonders how that name originated and what mountains it includes.

Pettis said she assumes it was so named, because it’s always cold and wintry there, and snow never goes completely away, even in the middle of summer.

Pettis has the right idea for how the range of 17 named peaks in north-central Colorado got its name. The Never Summers do get their name from the extreme amounts of snow and rain that frequently fall there. But there’s more.

Dave Lively is a tour guide and speaker who presents the history of the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, which includes parts of the Never Summers. He says the name has its roots in the Arapaho people originally living in the area.

“In 1914, just before Rocky Mountain National Park was established, we invited – and when I say we, the Colorado Mountain Club, a hiking club that still exists today – two elders and their interpreter from the Arapaho Tribe at the Wind River Indian Reservation to come down and go

Never Summer Mountains on a two-week pack trip,” Lively said.

Lively said the Arapaho spent many years traveling and living in and out of the Kawuneeche Valley, much like another tribe did, the Ute. They had names for all the things they saw: the places, the wildlife and the beauty that surrounded them.

“They pointed out different sites in different locations, and one of those sites they called the Kawuneeche or the Coyote,” Lively said. “And above that they pointed to the mountains that they called ‘never no summer.’” So the group adopted that name. “ To further illustrate how apt the name is, Lively shared that the area did in fact have snow last August, and one can find pockets of snow year-round on the range.

Lively said some of the mountains can be accessed with a simple day hike.

“There are a number of trailheads, on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park as you drive on U.S. Highway 34 through the Kawuneeche Valley, for instance,” he said. “The Bowen and Baker Trailhead is a very popular trail.”

Lively said visitors can start there, and within a matter of four to five hours one way, they could be on the side of Baker Mountain “with a gorgeous view down the Kawuneeche and looking south all the way down toward Mount Baker, which is more than 65 miles away at that point.”

The National Park Service says the Never Summer Mountains have the only volcanic rock in Rocky Mountain National Park, deposited there millions of years ago. Today, it’s home to 20 miles of hiking trails, and tourism officials say the mountains have some of the oldest trees in Colorado – some up to 600 years old.

(FYI – Cripple Creek got its name, because livestock were frequently injured

crossing the creek, and the Cache La Poudre River was named after a group of French trappers in the 1800s were forced to lighten their wagons to cross the river, requiring them to hide supplies – including gunpowder – in a pit.

For more from Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org ■

telegraph

Tina Miely Broker Associate

(970) 946-2902 tina@BHHSco.com

April 13, 2023 n 9

BetweentheBeats

Crossing over Turns out, jazz and bluegrass not all that dissimilar

by Stephen Sellers

U

nder the intimate yet bright lights of the iNDIGO Room last Friday night, Alex Graf effortlessly loosed a quiver of creative, bebop-inspired flatpicking arrows from his new album “Sagebrush Continuum” to an enthusiastic sold-out audience. The rhythms and melodic wizardry of the performance are still floating somewhere over the greater La Plata County area.

Listening to Graf play guitar makes you wonder what Charlie Parker would have done with a Martin D18 instead of a tenor saxophone. Thankfully, Alex is starting to leave a trail of recorded snapshots for the world to follow, contributing a rich, playful and highly virtuosic answer to such a question. For this week’s “Between the Beats,” I sat down with the man himself to learn a little more about the story behind his music.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Brooklyn, but I grew up in the Hudson Valley area.

How did you find your way to Durango?

Through my fiancé, Morgan. Her aunts and uncles have lived here for about 20 years. We met in college. Most people who go to a small liberal arts school near the East Coast end up in New York, Boston or Philadelphia. I just assumed that would be me. And, I’m so lucky to have ended up in Durango.

What’s the thing you’re most likely to be thinking as soon as you pick up your guitar?

Immediately when I pick up my guitar, I’m trying to jump back into that body of water that is my improvisational journey. It’s almost like this one endless solo that I have. I’m super strategic about my time on the instrument. It’s not regimented or anything like that, but as soon as I pick up the guitar, I know exactly what I’m going to practice and the mental space I need to be in. I don’t noodle (laughs).

Tell us about using social media as a tool to spread your music.

It’s a beast and something to reckon with. I do heavy promotion through Reels and Tiktok. For a while, I took that more seriously than the music. I as-

10 n April 13, 2023

Alex Graf signed so much self-worth stuff to that.

You see how many likes you get, the comments. I think there are cool opportunities to connect with people, but for the most part, it’s a thing that you have to do if you want a certain recognition.

How did bluegrass find its way into your musical heart?

The first time I heard bluegrass was when I heard Ricky Skaggs at the Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg. I was still really into jazz. I had always perceived these genres as diametrical opposites.

But, they’re not.

I actually had stopped playing music right before COVID. I had gotten where I had wanted to in the jazz world, and I wanted to listen to it, but I just didn’t want to play it as much. And then during COVID, I had the opportunity to dive into some bluegrass and it clicked with me. Looking at bluegrass with my jazz lens felt dangerous, like I was going to get in trouble. To listen to super harddriving traditional bluegrass like Adam Steffi and think about bebop. It was really addicting.

How did you put this all-star cast of characters together?

I played a gig with Evan Suiter for Chevel Shepherd, and I had played with

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him here and there, just kind of oneoffs. In terms of Jacob Jolliff, I gave myself permission to think, “If anyone could play on this record, who would I pick?” So, I emailed him and sent him the tracks, and he was really gracious and said he’d play on the record.

What’s the major drive behind this album for you?

I’ve had this idea about improvising and music in general that I can’t quite put into words. I have all of these albums planned out in my head. And this is my first attempt at that thing. It’s a snapshot of now and where I’m at.

I think a lot of people get turned off by jazz. I think there’s this association with this high-falutin, pretentious, exclusive club that jazz is. But, if you look at the founding of it, jazz is a folk, oral tradition just in the same way that bluegrass or fiddle music is. My love of jazz and how I’m using that word, I don’t want to associate with this strictly academic thing. Sometimes, I think people assume I’m this ultra-theory person.

None of this is theoretical for me. It’s about attitude and ethic.

Find Graf ’s new album and more at www.alexgrafmusic.com ■

Stoned&Starving

What makes a perfect bagel?

Going down the bagel hole with a local baker

by Micah Susman

O

ne of the many mixed-up parts of celebrating Christmas as a Jew was the elaborate bagel fixings bar my dad and stepmother would set up each year for the six of us. They would use the dining room table and the nice dishes that only came out for special occasions.

There would be enough fresh-from-thebakery bagels for each of us to eat two and all the traditional toppings: cream cheese, tomatoes, capers, purple onions and several types of smoked fish and lox.

We would line up at the toaster as Dad would cut our bagel of choice – mine was always garlic – then we’d open our stockings to see what Santa brought.

As a kid, there were many bagel options around Washington, D.C., where I grew up. I never really cared if it was Lender’s brand or fresh from a bakery, but I would eat one most days for breakfast before school. However, the Christmas bagel toppings extravaganza was allocated to that special day, so I never had anything on my bagel other than butter and sometimes melted cheddar for the rest of the year. There was a short time when my mom bought Sizzlean (“Don’t sizzle fat, sizzle lean!”) for some reason – she was a vegetarian who still had a taste for bacon, so she didn’t want temptation in her own kitchen. I would put a couple slices on top of a bagel in appreciation of her efforts to support my carnivorous habits, assuming it was actually meat.

But food fads like fake bacon are just that for me, a fad. The one food that has

been a staple for Jews for several hundred years is good enough for me. Note how Matzoh never made it mainstream in the same manner, but who’s complaining?

But clearly, just as tacos are not just for Mexicans anymore – i.e. the local Indian taco place opening soon on Main Ave. – bagels are not just for Jews, either.

When I lived in Austin, I remember reading an article about two new bagel places in town that both claimed to be “New York style.” The discourse over this label is limitless and perhaps unresolvable. Some claim it is impossible to recreate a proper New York bagel anywhere without New York water, but others point out that it has more to do with the preparation and the gluten-heavy ingredients.

Now that I have the palate to know a Thomas’ bagel is just round bread with a hole, I decided to ask a local bagel expert, Andrew Allison-Godfrey, owner of Durango’s own Mable’s Bagels, what makes a classic bagel.

Allison-Godfrey grew up on the East Coast eating New York bagels and is a traditionalist when it comes to bagels. He fully agrees with Ed Levine, who said in a 2009 New York Times article that “A bagel is a round bread made of simple, elegant ingredients: high-gluten flour, salt, water, yeast and malt. Its dough is boiled, then baked, and the result should be a rich caramel color; it should not be pale and blond. A bagel should weigh four ounces or less and should make a slight cracking

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sound when you bite into it instead of a whoosh. A bagel should be eaten warm and, ideally, should be no more than four or five hours old when consumed.” In fact, he prefers to eat his daily bagel whole and fresh – and only occasionally with hummus and red onion.

Allison-Godfrey said the key is the high-gluten flour and mixing technique that takes much tweaking to get right, and “one needs to fiddle with the amounts of flour and water, as well as the sugar in the slurry when you are baking at different elevations” or using different ovens. Most importantly with flavor and consistency, shelf life is everything. If a bagel isn’t eaten or frozen the day it is made, he said, its quality will immediately deteriorate (without preservatives).

With all of the local Durango options for bagels, Allison-Godfrey mentioned how this foodie town can support all of the good bakers around Allison-Godfrey prefers to deliver his bagels in person, rather than opening a shop, so he can meet his customers and see their faces light up when he arrives with a fresh, hot dozen. He bakes me a dozen garlic bagels on demand every two weeks, and that first day is the best.

Anyone who happens to be nearby is blessed with one of these amazing bagels – I have to share the wealth. Like the baker himself, I eat them without splitting them or using any toppings on the first day. It is only as they age or get reheated that I dare add toppings. And in case you were wondering, I still eat lox on Christmas. ■

April 13, 2023 n 11

StufftoDo

Thursday13 Karaoke Night, 4 p.m., Mancos Brewing.

Bingo Night, 5 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Building Community Film Series, featuring “Exploring Urban Planning & Architecture Through Film,” 5 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio. Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave. Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio. Life Long Learning Series, featuring FLC Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Cheryl Nixon, 7 p.m., FLC’s Noble Hall 130.

Deadline for “Stuff to Do” submissions is Monday at noon. To submit an item, email: calendar@durangotelegraph.com

“Romeo & Juliet,” presented by FLC Theatre, 7:30 p.m., FLC Mainstage Theatre. Tickets at: www.durangoconcerts.com

Friday14 BID Coffee & Conversation, 8:30 a.m., TBK Bank, 259 W. 9th St. Gary Walker plays, 10 a.m.-12 noon, Jean-Pierre Bakery & Restaurant, 601 Main Ave. Free Legal Clinic, 4-5 p.m., Ignacio Library, 470 Goddard Ave. Dan Groth’s “The Sh*t Show,” opening reception, 5-9 p.m., 11th St. Station’s back patio.

“Luminescence” opening reception, featuring the work of Mariah Kaminsky, Dave Banga & Juanita Nelson, 5-9 p.m., Studio & Gallery, 1027 Main Ave. Bentley Monk plays, 5 p.m., Mancos Brewing.

Larry Carver & Kirk James play, 5:30 p.m., Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave. Donny Johnson, 6 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Ru Paul’s Drag Race Watch Party, 6 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave. Terry Rickard plays, 6 p.m., Weminuche Woodfire Grill, Vallecito.

Light up the Night Glow Run, 7 p.m., FLC’s Student Union Plaza. fortlewis.edu/glow

12 n April 13, 2023

“Romeo & Juliet,” presented by FLC Theatre, 7:30 p.m., FLC Mainstage Theatre. Tickets at: www.durangoconcerts.com Babydel’s Neon Jungle w/Seth Bass play, 8 p.m., Animas City Theatre.

Bass Bowl, Brain Spiders, Bvssick and Squoze play, 8 p.m., The Hive, 1150 Main Ave. Drag Show, 8:30 p.m., Father’s Daughters Pizza, 640 Main Ave.

“Romeo & Juliet,” presented by FLC Theatre, 2 p.m. FLC Mainstage Theatre. Tickets at: www.durangoconcerts.com Poetry Open Mic, 4 p.m., Mancos Brewing.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave. Sunday Funday, 6 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Saturday15

Monday17

Advocates for Recovery’s Spring Kick Off BBQ, 12 noon, Folsom Park, 33 Folsom Place.

Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

“Romeo & Juliet,” presented by FLC Theatre, showings at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., FLC Mainstage Theatre. Tickets at: www.durangoconcerts.com

Land Access Community Listening Session, 5:30 p.m., Sunnyside Market, 1305 Escalante Dr. Hosted by La Plata Open Space Conservancy.

Pete Giuliani & Richard Leavitt play, 5 p.m., Mancos Brewing.

“Kiss the Ground: Regenerating Hope for Climate,” film screening, 6 p.m., Unitarian Universalist, 419 San Juan Dr.

The Quarks play, 6 p.m., Fenceline Cider, Mancos.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave. Community Yoga, 6-7 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave. Open Mic, 6 p.m., Weminuche Woodfire Grill, Vallecito.

Cowboy Luau, 6 p.m., Billy Goat Saloon, Gem Village.

For the Love of Herbs: Planning, Planting and Using an Herb Garden, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Animas Valley Grange, 7271 CR 203.

Steve Labowskie plays, 6 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.

Comedy Showcase, 7:30 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Graham Good and the Paints with Haro in the Dark play, doors open at 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre.

Tuesday18

Salacious Saturdaze dance content, 9 p.m., The Garage, 121 W. 8th St. Silent Disco w/DJ Squoze, 9-11:30 p.m., 11th St. Station.

Sunday16 Veterans Benefit Breakfast, 9 a.m., VFW Post 4031, 1550 Main Ave. Feed the People! free mutual aid meal & winter gear drive for homeless community members, every Sunday, 2 p.m., Buckley Park.

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Community Yoga, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Yoga Durango, 1485 Florida Rd. Donations accepted.

Bluegrass Jam, 5:30 p.m., Union Social House, 3062 Main Ave. Meditation & Gathering for People in Their 20s and 30s, 6 p.m., Durango Dharma Center, 1800 E. 3rd Ave. Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave. Open Mic Night, 7 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

AskRachel

Walk this way, flush test and Mr. Clean Interesting fact: Even the CDC recommends walking on the left side of the road, suggesting that those righties are some kind of disease.

Dear Rachel, When pedestrians walk a road that lacks a sidewalk, what side of the road are they supposed to be on? I was always taught that you were to travel on the left side of the street so that you could see and react to oncoming traffic. However, I notice in my rural neighborhood that more than half the folks mosey on the right-hand side. Is there a law regarding this or is it just good sense?

– Curious not Judgmental Dear Totally Judgmental, I ain’t a lawyer, and it’s questionable whether I have good sense, so I can say with zero authority on either side of the street that I would rather stare down the butthole about to run me over, in hopes that my death glare would burn itself on their retinas and haunt their sleep, than get clipped on the backside and go down without issuing a single nasty look. Plus, if you walk on the right side, how are you supposed to offer those folksy waves to oncoming drivers? I always like seeing how many fingers they lift off the steering wheel to wave back, and which finger I get.

– In the gutter, Rachel

Wednesday19 Author Event & Book Signing: Morgan Sjorgen “Paths of Light,” 6 p.m., Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main.

Dear Rachel, I have a friend who lives in Edgemont. He saw the Metro flushing the fire hydrants and checking the hydrants to make sure they work. He found they do it two times a year. I don’t see the city of Durango do it. What’s up? Why not and how many hydrants do they have? I think you would want one to work if you need it. Flushing is not “when its yellow, let it mellow and if brown flush it down”… it’s the fire hydrant in front of your home.

– Drip Stick Dear Dip Slick, Flushing is very much both of those things, and frankly, if it’s an either/or proposition, I’m choosing a functioning toilet. Every time. Sure, I might need a functioning hydrant once in my life. But I bet the people who hit hydrants in the snow, thinking those tall poles are attached to a kid’s bicycle, do so often enough to count for regular hydrant testing.

– A royal flush, Rachel Dear Rachel, I hate cleaning, and I’m generally skeptical of any magical cleaning product. I figure it’s just some chemical that will chew through grease and grime and also my skin and my countertop. But my bro-in-law (a dude who cleans!) told me about these magic erasers. No

chemicals, just add water, and you can clean anything. By god he’s right. They ARE magic.

I have no question for you. I just want to evangelize the crap out of these things.

– Magically Erasered Dear Wiped Clean, If they’re truly magic, then they can take care of all sorts of problems. Like, if you hit a pedestrian on the right side of the road, you’d be able to clean the pedestrian parts off the bumper of your car before you get caught. Does that work? And, can it clean Drip Stick’s toilet that doesn’t get flushed the majority of the time?

– A clean slate, Rachel

Karaoke Roulette, 8 p.m., Starlight Lounge, 937 Main Ave.

Upcoming

Ongoing

Musically Speaking w/Maestro Heuser, one-hour deep dive into “Majesty of Mozart,” 6-7 p.m., Powerhouse Science Center, 1330 Camino del Rio.

“Wire Fed” by Noah Stotz, Studio &’s Gallery, 1027 Main Ave. Exhibit runs until April 30.

Word Honey Open Mic Poetry, 6 p.m., Durango Public Library.

Great Old Broads for Wilderness “Wild for Wilderness” Online Auction, April 14-23, info at 2023wildforwilderness.afrogs.org

Live music, 6-9 p.m., The Office & Diamond Belle, 699 Main Ave. “Current Personal Research on the Peopling of South America,” 7-8:30 p.m., FLC’s Lyceum Room, hosted by San Juan Basin Archaeological Society.

Geeks Who Drink Trivia, 8 p.m., The Roost, 128 E. College Dr.

Email Rachel: telegraph@durangotelegraph.com

Electronics Recycling, April 20, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., drop off items at La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. Durango PlayFest Speaker Series, featuring Broadway actor Sky Lakota-Lynch, April 20, 1-2 p.m., FLC’s Theatre Building – Main Stage Theatre.

Business After Hours with LPEA, April 20, 5-7 p.m., La Plata Electric Association, 45 Stewart St.

28th annual Creativity Festivity, 4-6 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Avenue. Exhibit runs thru April 28.

Author Robin Wall Kimmerer (“Braiding Sweetgrass”), April 20, 6-7:30 p.m., FLC.

“Tyrannosaurus – Meet the Family,” Farmington Museum, 3041 E. Main St. Exhibit runs thru April 26.

Trail Crew Brew Release Party, April 21, 4-8 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.

The Hive Indoor Skate Park, open skate and skate lessons. www.thehivedgo.org

“Connections: An Art Show,” April 21, 4:30-7:30 p.m., Moody’s on Mill St., 15 E. Mill St., Bayfield.

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April 13, 2023 n 13

FreeWillAstrology

by Rob Brezsny ARIES (March 21-April 19): I hope that in the coming weeks, you will keep your mind bubbling with zesty mysteries. I hope you’ll exult in the thrill of riddles that are beyond your current power to solve. If you cultivate an appreciation of uncanny uncertainties, life will soon begin bringing you uncanny certainties. Do you understand the connection between open-hearted curiosity and fertile rewards? Don’t merely tolerate the enigmas you are immersed in – love them!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): An old sadness is ripening into practical wisdom. A confusing loss is about to yield a clear revelation you can use to improve your life. In mysterious ways, a broken heart you suffered in the past may become a wild card that inspires you to deepen and expand your love. Wow and hallelujah, Taurus! I’m amazed at the turnarounds that are in the works for you. Sometime in the coming weeks, what wounded you once upon a time will lead to a vibrant healing.

Wonderful surprise!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What is the true and proper symbol for your sign, Gemini? Twins standing shoulder to shoulder as they gaze out on the world with curiosity?

Or two lovers embracing each other with mischievous adoration in their eyes? Both scenarios can accurately represent your energy, depending on your mood and the phase you’re in. In the coming weeks, I advise you to draw on the potency of both. You will be wise to coordinate the different sides of your personality in pursuit of a goal that interests them all.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Some scientists speculate that more people suffer from allergies than ever before, because civilization has over-sanitized the world. The fetish for scouring away germs and dirt means that our immune systems don’t get enough practice in fending off interlopers. In a sense, they are “bored,” because they have too little to do. That’s why they fight stuff that’s not a threat, like tree pollens and animal dander.

Hence, we develop allergies to harmless substances. I hope you will apply this lesson as a metaphor in the coming weeks, fellow Cancerian. Be sure the psychological component of your immune system isn’t warding off the wrong people and things. It’s healthy for you to be protective, but not hyper-over-protective in ways that shut out useful influences.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): One night in 1989, Leo evolutionary biologist Margie Profet went to sleep and had a dream that revealed to her new information about the nature of menstruation. The dream scene was a cartoon of a woman’s reproductive system. It showed little triangles being carried away by the shed menstrual blood. Eureka!

As Profet lay in bed in the dark, she intuited a theory that no scientist had ever guessed: that the sloughed-off uterine lining had the key function of eliminating pathogens, represented by the triangles. In subsequent years, she did research to test her idea, supported by studies with electron microscopes. Now her theory is regarded as fact. I predict that many of you Leos will soon receive comparable benefits. Practical guidance will be available in your dreams and twilight awareness and altered states.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You don’t know what is invisible to you. The truths that are out of your reach may as well be hiding. The secret agendas you are not aware of are indeed secret. That’s the not-so-good news, Virgo. The excellent news is that you now have the power to uncover the rest of the story, at least some of it. You will be able to penetrate below the surface and find buried riches. There may be a surprise or two ahead, but they will ultimately be agents of healing.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Visionary philosopher Buckminster Fuller referred to pollution as a potential resource we have not yet figured out how to harvest. A company called Algae Systems does exactly that. It uses wastewater to grow algae that scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and yield carbon-negative biofuels. Can we invoke this approach as a metaphor that’s useful to you? Let’s dream up examples. Suppose you’re a creative artist. You could be inspired by your difficult emotions to compose a great song, story, painting or dance. Your homework, Libra, is to figure out how to take advantage of a “pollutant” or two in your world.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Soon you will graduate from your bumpy lessons and enter a smoother, silkier phase. You will find refuge from the naysayers as you create a liberated new power spot for yourself. In anticipation of this welcome transition, I offer this motivational exhortation from poet Gwendolyn Brooks: “Say to them, say to the down-keepers, the sun-slappers, the self-soilers, the harmony-hushers, ‘Even if you are not ready for day, it cannot always be night.’” I believe you are finished with your worthwhile but ponderous struggles, Scorpio. Get ready for an excursion toward luminous grace.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I periodically seek the counsel of a Sagittarian psychic. I confided in her that lately it has been a challenge for me to keep up with you Sagittarians, because you have been expanding beyond the reach of my concepts. She gave me a pronouncement that felt vaguely helpful, though it was also a bit over my head: “The Archer may be quite luxuriously curious and furiously hilarious; studiously lascivious and victoriously delirious; salubriously industrious but never lugubriously laborious.” Here’s how I interpret that: Right now, pretty much anything is possible if you embrace unpredictability.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I’m not insane,” says Capricorn actor Jared Leto.

“I’m voluntarily indifferent to conventional rationality.” That attitude might serve you well in the coming weeks. You could wield it to break open opportunities that were previously closed due to excess caution. I suspect you’re beginning a fun phase of self-discovery when you will learn a lot about yourself. As you do, I hope you will experiment with being at least somewhat indifferent to conventional rationality. Be willing to be surprised. Be receptive to changing your mind about yourself.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): People of all genders feel urges to embellish their native beauty with cosmetic enhancements.

I myself haven’t done so, but I cheer on those who use their flesh for artistic experiments. At the same time, I am also a big fan of us loving ourselves exactly as we are. And I’m hoping that in the coming weeks, you will emphasize the latter over the former. I urge you to indulge in an intense period of maximum self-appreciation. Tell yourself daily how gorgeous and brilliant you are. Tell others, too! Cultivate a glowing pride in the gifts you offer the world. If anyone complains, tell them you’re doing the homework your astrologer gave you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I encourage you to amplify the message you have been trying to deliver. If there has been any shyness or timidity in your demeanor, purge it.

If you have been less than forthright in speaking the whole truth and nothing but the truth, boost your clarity and frankness. Is there anything you could do to help your audience be more receptive? Any tenderness you could express to stimulate their willingness and ability to see you truly?

"The Sh*tshow"

Grand unveiling of new restroom art by Dan Groth Fri., April 14, 5-9pm, back patio 1135 Main Ave. • DGO, CO

14 n April 13, 2023

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Open daily @ 11 a.m. • 1135 Main Avenue

classifieds

Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon. Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $5 minimum. Even better, ads can now be placed online: durangotelegraph.com.

Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check.

(Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.)

Ads can be submitted via: n www.durangotelegraph.com n classifieds@durango telegraph.com n 970-259-0133 n 679 E. 2nd Ave., #E2 Approximate office hours: Mon-Wed: 9ish - 5ish Thurs: On delivery Fri: Gone fishing; call first

Announcements Applications for Advanced Standing MSW Program Students with a bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) are eligible for a one-year Masters of Social Work program through the University of Denver. The program starts summer 2023 and classes are taught in Durango. Stipends for child welfare, integrated behavioral health care are available. Native American tuition support to eligible students is also available. For more info contact Janelle.Doughty@du.edu or www.du. edu/socialwork.

Tack & Equipment Consignment Sale Sat., April 15, 9am - 3pm, LPC Fairgrounds - 2500 Main Ave., Durango. Consigners check in Fri., April 14, 9am - 7pm. Benefits the 4 Corners Back Country Horsemen, 970-884-2355 or e: jksherer1@outlook.com

HelpWanted Join Our Awesome Team!

SolarWorks! is looking for a reliable full time solar installer. Must be able to safely work at heights, use hand & power tools and possess good analytical skills. Starting at $20+/hr DOE. Please send resumes to solarworks.marcy @gmail.com or call 970-382-2624 for additional information.

Durango Outdoor Exchange is looking for a full-time or part-time Gear Specialist. Do you have: retail sales experience -gear knowledge -Saturday availability - self motivation - stoke for the outdoors? Come join the crew! Applications available on our website or

swing by to meet with Jen, 3677 Main Ave.

Services

Massage Therapists Needed Amaya is hiring: Massage therapist part time positions Email triciagour ley13@gmail.com or drop off resume to apply

HaikuMovieReview ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Surprise! This wasn’t nearly as insipid as I thought it would be – Lainie Maxson

Classes/Workshops

years of experience. To schedule call Kathryn, 970-201-3373.

Stop Smoking/Break Bad Habits Effortless! Relaxing! Get the results you want! Professional hypnosis with Susan Urban, (CHT, HA, TH). Use your own brain to make the positive changes you want in your life. Free phone consultation. 970-247-9617.

New Internal Martial Arts Class Join us Tuesday evenings at 7pm at the Jazzercise Studio 98 Everett St. in Bodo for a unique training experience that combines restorative exercise, energy work & self-defense into a holistic training regime. For more info call Steve at 281.202.4422 or visit intentionfist.com.

Free Tenant Rights Presentation Free Tenant Rights Presentation presented by Colorado Legal Services Tuesday, April 18th, 5:30 pm – 7 pm at Durango Public Library and via Zoom.

Topics include recent changes to landlord tenant law and evictions. Please call 385-7378 ext. 251 for details on how to attend or visit www.durango vap.com/events

ForSale Reruns Home Furnishings Brighten up your indoor (and soon outdoor!) space with bistro sets, patio/garden items, nightstands and lots of new art. Looking to consign smaller furniture pieces … 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat. 385-7336.

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Marketing Small/Local Businesses Media, website building and content editing, copywriting and editing, newsletters, blogs, etc. for small, local, independent or startup businesses. www.the saltymedia.com or email jnderge @gmail.com Harmony Cleaning and Organizing Residential, offices, commercial and vacation rentals, 970-403-6192.

Lowest Prices on Storage!

Inside/outside storage near Durango and Bayfield. 10-x-20, $130. Outside spots: $65, with discounts available. RJ Mini Storage. 970-259-3494.

BodyWork 30% Off Body Work, Tuesdays Clinical deep tissue, cupping, and TENS treatment options. Located at the Community Wellness Center, 160 E. 12th St., Suite 1, Durango. Call to schedule w/ Dennis 970.403.5451 Lotus Path Healing Arts Now accepting new clients. Offering a unique, intuitive fusion of Esalen massage, deep tissue & Acutonics, 24

In-Home Fitness Training Convenient. Private. All ages. Diane Brady NSCA-CPT. 970-903-2421 Massage by Meg Bush LMT, 30, 60 & 90 min., 970-7590199.

Reiki Practitioner, Postpartum Doula and Reflexologist In-office energy work sessions and reflexology by appointment, and in-home postpartum doula services and support. Energy medicine sessions held in office at the Sun Building, 755 E. 2nd Ave., Durango. 970-946-9352

Wanted Cash for Vehicles, Copper, Alum Etc. at RJ Metal Recycle. Also free appliance and other metal drop off.

970-259-3494.

CommunityService Volunteers Needed Do you want to make a difference in your community and the lives of others? Alternative Horizons is always in need of volunteers to staff our hotline. AH supports and empowers survivors of domestic violence. Training and ongoing support provided. Next training will be held on May 8th and 9th.

For more information call the office at 970-247-4374 or visit our website https://alternativehorizons.org/ April 13, 2023 n 15

get ready for summer with a new SUP

Saturday, April 22 10am-6pm

all stand up paddle boards 20% off!

10% off sup pumps and pfds too!

16 n April 13, 2023

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